[Poohbah]

Talk about an exercise in futility. The RIAA is fighting a war that has been decided before it was even fought. Even if a specific statute was enacted criminalizing file-swapping, it would be unenforceable. The music industry will simply have to adopt new economic models.

If owned an RIAA affiliate company, I'd leave that organization...after a while, no one would be swapping any of the songs in my catalog.

After the word gets around that pirating Poohbah Records material is a great way to get yourself arrested and convicted for swapping kiddie porn, the world would understand the high cost of "free."

[Mister Magoo]

What most Kazaa & Morpheus users and fans tend to ignore is that the RIAA is, under current law, correct. By swapping files they might otherwise have purchased, they are getting something for nothing. This deprives the RIAA's constituents -- labels, songwriters and musicians all -- of the financial benefit they have come to expect.

But the RIAA, by attacking the most blatant symptom of its problem, is not solving the problem itself. Historically, distributors of creative property rebel against new technology that shifts their paradigms. Record labels once wanted reimbursement for allowing radio stations to broadcast their music. The film industry expected videocasette recorder sales to destroy movie-ticket sales.